Someone was shining a light in Sarah's face, and she didn't like it at all. She brought her arm up in front of her face and tried to ward off the intruder with her other arm while still staying snuggled up in the position she was in. The damn light persisted until she gave up and opened her eyes. The 'intruder' was a yellow ball of light in the sky that streamed in through the window, amplified by the large amount of sparkling white snow that covered the ground. Blinking, Sarah remembered that she was curled up on her couch and not in her bed. She looked toward the tree; the carved wooden box was still there, and the feather she had been holding had been dropped next to it.
Too groggy and unawake to be disturbed by the previous night's event, she stood up, groaned at how stiff her back was, and ambled to the kitchen to get a drink. The rays of sunshine made odd shadows on the counter and floor. One almost looked like—no, it was her imagination. She turned quickly toward the window. No owl. She shook her head to get rid of the paranoia that was awakening inside her. She made hot water and poured it into a mug filled with powdered hot chocolate mix. Stirring the concoction slowly, she ambled toward the window and gazed out at the winter wonderland.
Snow covered everything. There must have been at least 3 feet out there. A little bump in the blanket of snow told her that her car was covered. Instead of panicking about her snowbound state, Sarah gave a sigh of contentment. She would much rather have time to herself, to dream and maybe even to write. It had been a while since she turned on the computer and tried to type, so maybe the quiet and solitude was just what she needed. Clutching her mug of hot chocolate, she sauntered into her study room and flipped the power switch on the computer. Nothing. She walked to the light switch on the wall and flipped it to 'on.' Nothing. She looked toward the digital clock that she kept in the room. Dead. Damn, she breathed, no power.
Sarah spent the next few minutes searching around for flashlights and candles. Although the morning sunshine did a wonderful job of lighting up the room, she knew that the house would get dark very quickly after the early winter sunset. She placed the pile of candles and flashlights in the middle of the kitchen counter, and walked back into the study. She scanned the bookcases that lined the walls for suitable snowbound reading material. Ah, perfect, she thought, reaching up to remove a photo album from the top shelf. What better way to spend an afternoon than looking through happy memories?
When she was 16, Sarah had called on her friends from the Labyrinth several times to help her through the rough places of being a teenager. She had given up calling on them when she turned 18, feeling that she needed to be able to face life on her own. But there were some photographs of her friends that she had taken in secret all those years ago. Sarah leafed through the pages of the album, tracing the edges of photographs depicting large, hairy Ludo, faithful Hoggle, courageous Sir Didymus (and loyal steed, Ambrosias), and the herself, smiling wistfully in their midst. She looked closely at one of the pictures and noticed that there was another creature in the room, watching the friends as they were photographed. A silver-white owl gazed on the scene from the sill on the outside of the window.
The picture turned Sarah's mind back to the events of the previous night, as much as she had tried not to think about them. She couldn't deny the fact that the ring she had donated in the labyrinth long ago had suddenly appeared under her Christmas tree. She would have reasoned that it was her friend, Hoggle, who had heard a subconscious cry of loneliness and reached through the barrier to brighten her holiday, except for the note that had accompanied the box and jewelry. There was only one person who she had ever been absolutely certain was in love with her. But that person was the embodiment of fear itself; he had been an enemy to her sense of justice, and the most difficult person she had ever had to confront.
She had tried to find the book, the beginning of everything that had happened. But it was gone; it might have been misplaced, but Sarah didn't think so. She knew, as you sometimes know who the caller is when the phone rings and before you answer it, that the book had been taken, and that something was about to happen. Closing the album, she put it back on the shelf, and began to worry about the thing that she knew was going to happen. The ring, the missing book; all were signs that the Goblin King whom she had come to fear and yet dream about, was planning a surprise return into her life. There was only one thing that she could do, to prepare against the unknown.
Quickly jogging to her room, Sarah gazed into the mirror on her dresser. She wondered if it would work, since it had been so long since she had called upon her friends, and since she was no longer in her room at her father's house. She started into her reflection, trying to see beyond it into what wasn't there.
"Ludo, Hoggle, Sir Didymus…. I need you!" Her voice sounded empty. No shimmering of the glass, no fading reflections of her friends. She sighed and shook her head. Maybe she was just being paranoid; living on your own sometimes gave you too much room for thought.
The sun eventually slipped low into the sky, and Sarah began to light the candles that she had assembled. She turned on a radio briefly and listened to the announcers talk about the blizzard that had hit her little town. Everything was closed, and power was not going to be restored anytime soon. Sarah had begun to shiver; the heat was ebbing slowly out of the house. Luckily she had a little fireplace in her living room. She opened the flue, piled wood onto the hearth, and watched as flames leapt to consume the logs she was feeding them. The room began to glow with warmth, and Sarah lounged on the couch, relishing the light and heat.
"I've come to rescue you, fair maiden!" The shrill little voice almost gave Sarah a heart attack. She jumped up from the couch to see a miniscule animal waving a spear around at an invisible enemy.
"Sir Didymus!" Sarah exclaimed, overjoyed to see her friend.
"Yes, my lady, I have come. Sir Hoggle is tied up with important matters at the moment, and was unable to travel with me, and brother Ludo was sleeping and for the life of me I could not wake him." Sarah laughed at the explanations of her diminutive companion.
"Oh, Sir Didymus, I'm just happy to see you. And I have to admit that I may be in need of some protection." The small creature's ears perked up at this, and he looked curiously at Sarah.
"A mission? Of course! Fear not, fair maiden, I will fight to the very death to protect the friend who so willingly gave her friendship in that long ago—" Sarah, impatient, brought his speech to a close by bringing a finger to her lips.
"Shh… I heard something," she whispered. There was a small rumbling noise coming from outside. She took a seat back on the couch and motioned for Didymus to do the same, so that she could hear well. The noise grew into a tremendous thunderclap.
Thunder shook the house, and Sarah clutched the arm of the couch, looking around the room as if expecting a phantom to appear at any moment. The flames of the fire grew and shimmered, and then suddenly there he was, the Goblin King, standing in front of her. Immediately she felt the old feelings stirring inside her; the fear a little less strong than it had been 6 years ago, and the intoxicating attraction just a little bit more. Using all of her willpower, she lifted her chin, and made eye contact with Jareth.
"To what do I owe the honor of your company?" Sarah commented with a smirk. Sir Didymus looked between the monarch and the lady, and fainted dead away.
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Took long enough to get them together, huh? Just wanted to say thanks guys for all the reviews, I guess that means I have to keep writing for now. ;-) No for real, you guys are the best. I will endeavor to earn the praise you have given me in the chapters ahead.
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